vBulletin's Lead Developer Speaks About vBulletin 5 Connect
As we look ahead to the launch of vBulletin 5 Connect later this year, our lead developer Kevin Sours recently posted some details on the technical architecture of the new product. You can read his post and the subsequent discussion here.
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Lawrence Cole
Marketing & Operations Manager, vBulletin Solutions
In his post, Kevin wrote:
"Hi Guys,
I wanted to take a moment to talk about some of the changes that are coming up with vB5.
One of the big things is trying to separate out the presentation from the backend. To that end we've written a new API for vB5 that is much more complete. Moreover, since the vB5 front end uses the new API exclusively, we guarantee that if the front end can do it then it can be done via the API. The end goal is that extensions to vB5 should be able to work the same way that vB5 itself works, with the hope of making it easier to do bigger and better things with vBulletin. With the addition of front end controllers and improvements to our template language the result is that we've got an MVC system that will allow us to build things out in a more modular fashion.
Another big advantage to the API is it provides a rigorous interface for automated unit testing. We've been adapting our development processes around this and we've been happy with the results. This should pay off down the road with fewer regressions and better overall stability.
We've developed a default content model so that we are no longer handling similar kinds of content completely differently. The main advantage is that when we roll features out for content they will much easier to roll out across app instead of having to implement it separately for forums, blogs, and social groups. We've also done a considerable amount of work to isolate database access with an eye towards supporting databases other than MySQL. These internal improvements have paid off some in 5.0 already and I expect them to really help us farther down the line in the 5 series.
Obviously we'll be able to share more details as we get closer to launch, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up with some of what we're working on."
Kevin Sours